Pencils, check. Pens, check. It’s time to go through the list and make sure the kids are ready to start another school year. While the kids are looking forward to new teachers, a new class and new friends, their parents are not looking forward to the shopping.
“We are finding that 91% of parents surveyed say back to school shopping is stressful, for sure. 95% of moms are really anxious about going back to school,” Retail Me Not Shopping and trends Expert Sara Skirboll tells KTRH. 87% of dads agree.
Money is the biggest cause of all the stress, says Skirboll. 75% of parents listed it as their number one stresser. An average the cost of sending a kid to the classroom in the fall of 2017 will run $688 per child.
The annual ritual also could involve a visit to stores, which is enough to stress anyone out, but especially when there are crowds, 3 in 5 saying there are in-store dilemmas to deal with, 43% concerned about finding the best deals, and 33% concerned with staying on budget.
About a third of the parents are worried about what the kids will think of their selections, and Skirboll says knowing what’s hot and what’s not is critical before sending a child into a peer-pressure laboratory. “I’m seeing big movies make a big splash right now in backpacks and apparel, and the big movie right now that super popular is the Batman Lego movie. And believe it or not Frozen is still pretty big,” she advises.
The Texas Tax-Free Back to School Shopping Weekend is August 11-13.